they say love hurts
by korrasarmyy
Summary: "And all these moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain." — Autumn Tyzula Week.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:**_ _This is my Tyzula Week entry, and it's going to be four chapters (but it has fourteen flash fictions for the prompts)._

* * *

 _they say love hurts_

 _fourteen flash fictions for Tyzula Week_

* * *

 **Part I: luck, handwriting, sleepwalking & kittens**

* * *

 _001\. there once was a beautiful princess who was born lucky_

.

"It's all gonna come out!" Ty Lee's little hand is clasped so tightly around her knee that her fingers become numb. "It's all gonna come out! IT'S ALL GONNA COME OUT!"

She is screaming, her big eyes swollen with tears, _but of course_ no one is listening even for a second. Someone walks up to her, the gravel crunching under their feet.

"Yes. Yes it is. I'm very sorry about your unavoidable death," Azula says calmly, _because if anybody thought this was a_ normal _fairy tale romance they were very wrong._ "Do you have any last requests?"

Ty Lee begins bawling uncontrollably. Azula grimaces before walking forward to stand in front of the hysterical girl about her age. Their meet-cute was the moment they met eyes and Azula tried hard not to laugh at the situation. On a playground, one of them bleeding and crying, the other with a mocking smile about the ordeal. It fits them.

"Well, whatever your name is, you are very lucky that I came along."

Azula smirks; Ty Lee sniffles.

.

 _002\. and she was an excellent forger of homework_

"You want me to do it _for you_?" the princess inquires and Ty Lee squints.

Azula has never been asked to do anything _for_ someone; she is royalty and no one would dream of such a thing. However, her new friend is sitting right there, holding the papers and making cute deer-fox eyes in desperate hopes of Azula preventing her from failing their history class.

"Please, please, please, please..." Ty Lee bats her eyelashes and Azula looks her up and down.

The teachers do not question Ty Lee's homework being in Azula's handwriting.

Maybe Azula is not the best forger of homework, but everyone is too scared of her to mention it.

.

 _003\. and she was a combative sleepwalker_

Azula screams, gasps, stumbles on her feet with no clear idea of where she is, and someone grabs her as the hallway lights up bright blue.

She thinks it is sleep paralysis, despite the scent of smoke from her fire.

It is not sleep paralysis.

 _._

 _004\. and she hated baby animals (but not really; she loved kittens)_

"I hate all baby animals," Azula declares without a second thought. Her face is cold, set in that assertion.

"No one is surprised," Mai remarks, adding a sigh.

But Ty Lee's eyes sparkle. "But, princess, everybody loves kittens."

Mai glances over her shoulder, as if she thinks a fight will break out.

"No. I hate kittens and we should drown them." Azula tilts her nose towards the ceiling.

Ty Lee is _definitely certain_ that Azula is lying about that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II: daycare, divorce, rehab & theft**

 _5\. and she pretended she didn't cry when her little girl went to daycare_

Ty Lee watches and smiles, and Azula snaps, "How dare you look so _pleased_ about this!"

Azula does not remotely care that other people are watching them. She has fought hard enough to not be a horrible parent, and her daughter is wailing and refusing to leave her arms. And... maybe Azula is holding back tears of her own ad struggling to allow her daughter to leave her arms.

"I just love it when you have feelings," Ty Lee says brightly. At least feelings other than rage, jealousy, lust and whatever makes her act so icy now and then.

"I don't. Our _baby girl_ has feelings and so we should leave!" Azula snaps.

"Mmm..." Ty Lee cocks an eyebrow and looks at the little toddler now trying desperately to escape Azula arms. She sees her cousin and their friends and wants to join them, but Azula is conveniently ignoring that fact.

"Shut up," Azula snarls.

 _._

 _6\. and she pretended not to care when she found out her girl was getting married_

"I can't believe she _invited_ me, is all," Azula says, turning a palm up and looking wholly disinterested. "It seems so presumptuous of her that I would even care, or want to go for that matter."

Zuko pretends that he does not see the hurt in her eyes as she complains to him.

 _._

 _7\. and she wouldn't ever get help because she hated looking weak_

Azula hates it when she stumbles, because she always falls ever since her plummet so many years ago. Zuko says she could get any kind of help to fix it, and she snaps comments about _painting her feelings_ or anything else snide she can manage to come up with while the sky is falling around her.

Ty Lee arrives in Azula's life and understands what Zuko and Ursa and everyone just _don't_. Azula won't ask for help, and so Ty Lee makes it seem like she is the one asking Azula for help, instead of the other way around.

It works like a charm.

 _._

 _8\. and one time she stole a glance that ruined everything_

Azula dares to look at the girl walking down the aisle. She has been as cold and off-putting as she possibly can. But then she looks at Ty Lee and hates herself for how much she knows it must be evident that she wants the girl who broke her heart.

Ty Lee looks back at her, and almost falls. Worse yet, she has the sudden desire to run away from the altar and maybe drag Azula with her.

That little glance at a woman soon to be a man's bride shatters it all.

But rebuilding it...

That's the fun part.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III: cherries & wine**

 _9\. and she hated cherries the minute she found out they had pits_

"Don't... don't you dare feed those to her. Ugh," Mai says from the other side of the room. Of course, of course Azula is having Ty Lee feed her cherries. Of course. It could not be more repulsive.

"Mai, I am a princess and have had a very exerting day," Azula drawls and Mai rolls her eyes. She acts like she thinks Azula is not looking, but she knows.

"I'm happy to feed Azula cherries," Ty Lee says honestly, smiling wide.

Years later, Ty Lee has a bowl. She holds a cherry up. "Can I put this in your mouth?" she asks and the girl with the tangled hair and purple circles under her eyes coldly shakes her head.

"They're a dangerous fruit."

And Azula walks away, leaving her wife sighing but happy not to share her cherries.

 _._

 _10\. and she hated wine the minute she found out what happened when she drank too much_

Azula is dizzy. Something is holding her up, and she really doesn't know what it is. It's Ty Lee. It's Ty Lee, who feels terrible that she got the princess drunk. Ty Lee could not be panicking more at the moment, and Azula is loathing beyond loathing the loss of control.

Ty Lee carries her back to the palace, carefully avoiding anyone who could see them and report them to Ozai.

"Ty Lee," Azula slurs as Ty Lee helps her onto her bed. Ty Lee is grabbed by the wrists and yelps as Azula refuses to let her stand up. "Ty Lee, will you kiss me? Like you did to that boy?"

Ty Lee blushes. "Is that why you got into a drunk fight and got us kicked out of a bar?"

Azula nods, admittedly halfheartedly.

And Ty Lee smiles faintly. "Yeah."

Ty Lee complies.

Azula wakes up in the morning and doesn't regret that kiss like she regrets the rest of the night before.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV: denial, ice water & blade runner**

 _11\. and she hated love them minute she found out how bad it hurts.  
12\. and she had the most beautiful girl in the world in love with her, but seemed to fuck that up every time.  
13\. and she would give anything for a happily ever after.  
_

Azula is in the rain, sitting on the edge of a nigh overflowing fountain. She gazes out and feels the water drench her. She hates rain. She hates rain. It makes her want to do awful things. But she is trying to deny its existence; she is trying to deny the fact that she thinks she _will_ do awful things.

She looks up and sees Ty Lee walking through her. Ty Lee holds up a piece of parchment over her head, in clear denial of the rain pouring down and destroying all in its path.

Much like Azula.

"I'm not badly hurt. Azula, I'm not badly hurt," Ty Lee repeats over and over again.

"That's absurd," Azula snaps. She can _see_ the burn marks on Ty Lee's neck. She can _see them_. How Ty Lee could deny their existence baffles Azula.

"It's not," Ty Lee whispers as she sits down between Azula.

Azula is glad that the rain hides the tears that have pouring from her eyes for the whole night.

"You're going to be okay," Ty Lee says and Azula scoffs. "You _are_. Because I love you and we have a future of so many more happy moments than sad ones."

"It doesn't matter if we have these fabled happy times in the future, Ty Lee," Azula says coldly, but her voice is constricted with emotion. She is crying and Ty Lee can barely stomach it. Ty Lee just wants to end Azula's pain.

"It does. I love every moment I've ever spent with you. And every second you're alive makes me so happy you exist," Ty Lee breathes earnestly.

"Great. They hand out so many medals of valor for _existing_ ," Azula hisses, and she lies further back in her bed. Ty Lee adjusts her position sitting by Azula, feeling her warmth.

"I don't know what..." Ty Lee trails off and stares at her feet.

"I've done incredible things. I've done things no one would ever believe if I didn't have proof. I mastered lightning, I conquered Ba Sing Se. I remember watching the walls come down under my orders. I killed the Avatar and I fought spirits and the most powerful benders alive. I was meant to ascend to the throne. I am worth remembering."

"I know."

"You don't. I've had a life of endless pivotal moments. Not pivotal for me. Pivotal for the _entire world_. I conquered the Spirit World and saved my awful brother. I saw..." Azula swallows, unsure if the next part is something she wants to say. "I've seen your eyes and how they glitter, which is just absurd, I know."

"Aww." Ty Lee pokes Azula's ankle, before she remembers how serious this is.

"I flew in the sky, and I burnt Caldera in the light of the comet, I slept with you and..." Azula kisses Ty Lee fiercely on the lips. The water on them makes it slippery, but the warmth rushing through their veins could dry tears. "And I just did that. But you know what? You know what I've learned because of how fucked up my life has become?"

"What?" Ty Lee asks softly.

"All of those moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain."

 _end_


End file.
